Would you refer a remote engineer from Eastern Europe for $100?

Question

I am trying to develop a new marketing channel based on trust and referral.Here's the thing: Eastern Europe has been an increasingly attractive hub for Software Engineers in general, with hourly rates starting at $50 / hr for a senior developer.However, most of the US companies are still hesitant to hire, despite giving a free one-month trial, and other risk-free ways of working together.I think it all comes back to trust: no one does business with someone on a whole different continent.If you're based in the United States, and you have a strong network of business owners, startup founders or scale-ups, my proposal for you would be:1. If you introduce a Software Developer from Romania, I will pay you 100$ / interview scheduled.2. In case that interview goes well and the person is hired, I wanna pay you a lump sum of $1000!Obviously, you can talk with the engineer before giving the referral and to be fully transparent, I will act as a Contract Recruiting Agency from Eastern Europe.Thoughts?

solardev · Accepted Answer

As someone in the US: I would be very happy to refer someone from Eastern Europe if I've worked with them. But no amount of money would make me risk my reputation or career vouching for someone I have no experience working with. This is way too close to interview scamming, and it's the kind of thing that could all too easily backfire and cost me my own job & career.
Also, about:
> I think it all comes back to trust: no one does business with someone on a whole different continent.
It's not really that foreigners are less trustworthy or anything like that, but that it can be a huge hassle for US companies (especially small ones) to hire foreign workers. It dramatically complicates HR, labor laws, etc., unless they are all hired as contractors, and even then many smaller companies aren't really set up to handle the paperwork and taxes for that if all their other employees are local.
> I am trying to develop a new marketing channel based on trust and referral.
If you truly are doing that, I would be comfortable participating in something like LinkedIn where you can vouch for people after you've worked with them. Not before, and certainly not blindly.

cebert · Answer

I personally wouldn&rsquo;t be comfortable, giving a referral for people I can&rsquo;t vouch for, especially if I&rsquo;m referring somebody to my current employer. However, it does seem like many are openly willing to give referrals for anyone who asks.

JohnFen · Answer

That screams scam to me on two levels.The first is that you're attempting to bribe people to give recommendations they can't possibly give legitimately because they're not familiar with the candidate.The second is how are you making money? If you're paying out, that money has to come from somewhere. I suspect that somewhere is from the applicants, and that's a showstopper right there.

gregjor · Answer

So you&rsquo;re running an outsourcing agency and offering to pay for leads?That isn&rsquo;t the same thing as a professional referral.

Would you refer a remote engineer from Eastern Europe for $100?

I personally wouldn’t be comfortable, giving a referral for people I can’t vouch for, especially if I’m referring somebody to my current employer. However, it does seem like many are openly willing to give referrals for anyone who asks.

So you’re running an outsourcing agency and offering to pay for leads?
That isn’t the same thing as a professional referral.